Cleaning Up the Vegetable Garden After Flooding.......

With so much turmoil in the USA with hurricanes and flooding, I was trying to think about a way to help out living so far away and not knowing anyone directly affected, so I decided to share my knowledge, and experience that I have had in the past years that I have had my vegetable gardens flooded. Follow me to learn how to safely clean up your gardens and what to watch for in your plants and the health of your plants.

The first thing to consider is what kind of water has affected your garden. Was the water simply the rain water, or was it a mix of run off from the streets from the storm surge and sewers overflowing. This is hugely important. You would not want to be eating produce and vegetables with potential toxins from the run off or sewage. If the water is simply rain your crops will be just fine to consume.

The best way to determine the quality of the water that is flooding your garden area is to have it tested. However you can obviously tell if water has flown into your gardens from outside your yard.

If you have determined that the flood water is simply rain, then the next best thing you can do for your garden is to try and dig a small trench to help with the drainage and irrigate.

Next you will want to take your hose and spray off your plants of mud and silt that remains on the leaves of your plants. If your plants are fruit shrubs like blueberries or raspberries, you should remove the broken limbs. Don't feel that your plant it a loss if all limbs are broken. If the base of the plant or limb is still green, it is still alive and will come back, just baby it a little more than usual and help it by removing the broken limbs, and drain as much water as you can.

These bean plant roots, have water damage from a flooded garden. This what they would look like.

These tomatoes are infected by a water born disease Phytophthora Blight (Chilli Wilt). The fungus affects all plant parts causing leaf blight, fruit rot and root rot. Plants suffering from this conditions often wilt and die very quickly. Once the disease gets to the roots the plant is beyond saving. The condition may also affect a section of the plant rather than the plant as a whole.

Peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, summer squash that are soft skinned crops, found in water during the flood should be discarded. Winter squash, winter melons, and pumpkins, have a thick rinds, so they can be washed, rinsed in potable water. After sanitized in a dilute bleach solution created for root crops, and rinsed.

All vegetables and fruits eaten raw should be thrown away, such as lettuce, mustards, spinach, cabbage, collards, Swiss chard, arugula, or micro greens. Fruits like strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries as well and leafy vegetables. They may have been away from the flood waters, but the sprinklers may have splashed some of the contaminated water up onto the plants and the fruits.

I hope that this post will be a source of help to those effected by flood waters, and please use caution when harvesting, when in doubt throw it out. I am continuing to PRAY for all those who have been displaced and are losing their crops and lands of their homesteads.

Sources:
http://www.derekhayward.co.uk/BluebellRailway-1/Photographic-Tours/Kingscote-Station/i-x4RKtww
http://hortvegdr.weebly.com/wilted.html
http://www.chillilicious.co.uk/chilli-pests-and-problems.html
http://www.yates.com.au/problem-solver/problems/powdery-mildew-vegetables/